Hollywood Animal [Paperback]

Joe Eszterhas had everything Hollywood could offer. A combination of insider and rebel, he saw and participated in the fights, the deals, the backstabbing, and all the sex and drugs. But here, in his candid and heartwrenching memoir, we see therest of the story: the inspiring account of the child of Hungarian immigrants who, against all odds, grows up to live the American Dream.Hollywood Animalreveals the trajectory of Eszterhas's life in gripping detail, from his childhood in a refugee camp, to his battle with a devastating cancer. It shows how a struggling journalist became the most successful screenwriter of all time, and how a man who had access to the most beautiful women in Hollywood ultimately chose to live with the love of his life in a small town in Ohio. Above all, it is the story of a father and a son, and the turbulent relationship that was an unending cycle of heartbreak.Hollywood Animalis an enthralling, provocative memoir: a moving celebration of the human spirit.Joe Eszterhas is the author ofAmerican RhapsodyandCharlie Simpson's Apocalypse, which was nominated for the National Book Award. His fifteen films includeBasic Instinct,Flashdance,Jagged Edge,Telling Lies in America,Showgirls,Sliver,Jade,Music Box,Betrayed,F.I.S.T, andAn Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn. He lives in Bainbridge Township, Ohio, with his wife and four sons. He is also the father of two grown children from his first marriage.CHAPTER 1

The King of Point Doom

KARCHY
I wanna show off the car. I wanna showyouoff.

DINEY
Why do you have to show off all the time?

KARCHY
I ain’t got that much to show.

Telling Lies in America

I

My great-grandfather grew up a poor kid in a tiny village in Hungary. He was about to be drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army and he fled l3,